Starring:
Chadwick Boseman
Michael B. Jordan
Lupita Nyong’o
Danai Gurira
Letitia Wright
Director:
Ryan Coogler
Likes:
- REPRESENTATION. IS. IMPORTANT. As a female, I’ve always loved seeing strong female leads in the books I read and movies I watch. They’re role models to aspire to be. And they didn’t come around that often when I was a kid. While Blade and Spawn predate Black Panther in the realm of Black superhero comic adaptations,* their R-ratings exempt them from being role models for younger audiences. T’Challa is the first Black title superhero that kids can finally look up to because he isn’t too mature, too silly, or too much of a flop. And we need more of that.
- Besides the aforementioned representation, T’Challa has an all-female guard called the Dora Milaje that I (obviously, furiously) love, especially his badass righthand woman, Okoye. His sister is a woman in tech; his love interest a dark-skinned, independent Black woman; and his mother is Angela Fucking Bassett. Clearly this film passes the Bechdel Test.
- Yet another MCU movie that doesn’t feel like filler for the next Avengers. You can pluck it out of the lineup and enjoy it on its own without feeling lost.
Dislikes:
- I was getting strong Hamlet vibes while watching Black Panther. And by Hamlet, I mean Lion King. A king dies and an evil relative takes over the throne while the son is banished for a while. Son has visit from ghost father at some point. Son returns to fight and kill usurper. There’s a cliff death scene… The plot is fine for this Africa-based movie involving big cats, but it seems to have taken a lot from the other Africa-based movie involving big cats and doesn’t feel as original as it could have been.
- Speaking of taking from other plots, anyone else get James Bond vibes, too?
- I’m really just nitpicking here, every story can be found to have similarities and influences from other stories. That doesn’t make it bad. Those were just my biggest issues since it’s hard to find much to dislike.
*FUN FACT: Blade’s worldwide success saved Marvel from bankruptcy and led to Sony and Fox purchasing the rights to Spider-Man and the X-Men, respectively. Without Blade, there would be no MCU today. Guess Wesley Snipes was right: always bet on black.
